


caught in the undertow (maiko week day 1: childhood)

by aureshadow



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Maiko Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27135820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aureshadow/pseuds/aureshadow
Summary: “For me, Azula will always be both a friend and the Fire Princess,” Mai said. “But Zuko isn’t the prince to me. He’s that clumsy boy who confides in me about how hard he tries, how he feels like he’ll never be good enough. He’s the one person other than you that I can trust.”Written for Maiko Week Day 1: Childhood
Relationships: Azula & Mai (Avatar), Azula & Ty Lee (Avatar), Mai & Ty Lee (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 59
Collections: Fall Maiko Week 2020





	caught in the undertow (maiko week day 1: childhood)

Mai hadn’t been present at the Agni Kai.

She hadn’t been present when Zuko spoke out of turn, when the Fire Lord burned his face and banished him.

 _I’m here now,_ she thought bitterly as she watched his ship sail off into the sunset. She’d caught one glimpse of him - head almost completely shaved, face still bandaged.

 _No, you can’t say goodbye to him,_ her mother had said. _He’s disgraced in the eyes of the Fire Lord. It wouldn’t reflect well on your father._

Mai was twelve years old. She was the daughter of a noble and lived a life of luxury. And she knew the world was cruel.

~~~

When Mai was eight, she made two friends at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. One was a peppy, upbeat girl named Ty Lee. The other was the princess of the Fire Nation.

“Why does _Mai_ get to be friends with Azula?” a girl in her class complained once. “She’s just a weird geek. And her buns look awful.” 

Azula was in earshot and challenged the girl to an Agni Kai.

“You two are my friends now,” Azula decreed to Mai and Ty Lee. “And I’m the princess. Any fool who thinks to challenge my honor by challenging my friends needs to be taught a lesson.”

Sometimes, Azula insulted Ty Lee like that, who would cry. For someone so cheerful, she cried a lot. Mai never cried, especially in front of others.

Sometimes, Azula invited her and Ty Lee to play at the palace. Mai’s parents delighted at their daughter’s proximity to the Fire Lord. Ty Lee, back then, was naive enough to think the princess thought of them as her equal - although Azula never hesitated to shove her down when that happened. It was an unspoken agreement: _I make you higher than the others, but you are subordinate to me._

Azula’s brother, Zuko, was much nicer. She didn’t play with him, but they saw each other a lot. One time, Zuko tripped and fell right in front of her and held her hand when she helped him up. His clumsiness was endearing, and she felt her heart beat a little faster with his hand in hers.

Once, Azula made Zuko come play a game with the girls. She dragged Mai in front of a fountain and lit an apple on her head.

Mai panicked. Zuko did too, his eyes widening as he rushed to help her. Mai barely registered how cute he looked when he was concerned before he barreled into her and landed on top of her in the fountain. Water splashed everywhere and drenched the two of them. Heat rushed into her cheeks. 

_Of course she would humiliate me like that._ As Zuko stomped away, Mai noticed that he was blushing too.

~~~

When Mai was ten, she played with Zuko more. She showed him how to throw knives, and he showed her his _dao_ blades. 

“School is useless,” Mai complained to him sometimes. “It’s just a bunch of old people telling us how great our country is. The only fun class is combat, and even then they put all their energy into training the benders.”

“Sometimes I wish I went to school instead of working with tutors that hate me,” Zuko said. “I feel like they have to remind me how much better my sister is at everything. Especially my firebending teacher.”

“Bending is overrated.”

Zuko laughed. “Piandao likes to say that. He’s the only teacher I like training with.”

~~~ 

“My parents need to get over themselves,” Mai said to Ty Lee. “For Szeto’s sake, I don’t play with Azula and Zuko to _curry favor_.”

“It’s so annoying,” Ty Lee agreed. “All my sisters think I like Azula because she’s the Fire Princess. But she’s fun to play with! And. . .”

_And we don’t really have a choice._

“For me, Azula will always be both a friend and the Fire Princess,” Mai said. “But Zuko isn’t the prince to me. He’s that clumsy boy who confides in me about how hard he tries, how he feels like he’ll never be good enough. He’s the one person other than you that I can trust.” _And Azula,_ she almost added, but didn’t bother. They both knew that wasn’t true.

~~~ 

When Mai was twelve, she sat with Zuko by the palace fountain and helped him feed the turtleducks. They kissed.

When Mai was twelve, Prince Zuko had a good heart and she loved him for it. He loved his country and wanted, so badly, to help his people. He stood up for the 41st Division, angry to see loyal warriors used as bait. His good heart got him burned and banished, cost him his honor. 

Mai, on the other hand, learned to be quiet, to listen from a distance. To keep what she felt and what she thought hidden, buried, just like her tears as Zuko sailed away.


End file.
